Abstract

The plant Diospyros mespiliformis Hochst (Ebenaceae) is commonly known as Kanya in Northern Nigeria which has been used widely in treating various ailments such as fever, whooping cough, wounds. Malaria, Pneumonia, Syphilis, Leprosy, Dermatomycoses, Diarrhea without scientific validation. Preliminary Phytochemical screening. Thin layer chromatographic profile (TLC) of methanol crude extract and antiproliferative studies were carried out in this research. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of carbohydrate, glycoside, anthraquinone, steroid, triterpenes, saponin, tannins, flavonoids and alkaloid. TLC profile of the crude extract gave four sports with good Rf values. Antiproliferative evaluation were carried out using Guinea corn (Sorghum bicolour) seeds spread in a 9 cm wide petridish laid with cotton wool and Whatman filter paper which was treated with 1-30 mg/ml of methanol extract in 24-96 hr period of incubation. At 24 hrs of incubation, the methanol extracts had 24.771 ± 0.526 mm length of growth for the controls whereas the seeds treated with 10, 20, and 30 mg/ml of the extract produced a length total of 2.772 ± 0.494 mm, 2.150 ± 0.490 mm and 2.257 ± 0.489 mm respectively, while at the end of 96 hours of incubation period, the radicles length of the control seeds measured 93.77 ± 9.730 mm while those treated with 10, 20, and 30 mg/ml were observed to be 37 ± 3.297 mm, 17.023 ± 2.802 mm and 16.086 ± 1.976 mm. This reduction in the growth implied 60.54, 81.87 and 82.83% respectively compared to the controls. This study has scientifically justified the traditional uses of Diospyros mespiliformis stem bark extracts asantiproliferative agent against radicles of a Guinea corn (Sorghum bicolour) which may relate to its use as anticancer agent.